


Champagne Bubbles and Traditions

by bulletincookie



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol, Domestic Fluff, Eskel Has Self-Esteem Issues (The Witcher), First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Jaskier | Dandelion Has Feelings, M/M, New Year's Eve, New Year's Fluff, New Year's Kiss, They both do, so many feelings, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26686015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bulletincookie/pseuds/bulletincookie
Summary: Jaskier has a tradition that every year when the clock strikes twelve on the new year, he kisses someone attractive to bring luck in for the upcoming year. He drags Eskel along, believing it would do his friend some good to try to get out and have some fun at a party for once. And if he gets a little distracted by his best friend to make sure he gets to keep his tradition alive for the seventh year in a row, well, he can find some other way to get good luck, right?
Relationships: Eskel/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 12
Kudos: 140
Collections: Bounce A Coin Bingo





	Champagne Bubbles and Traditions

**Author's Note:**

> wow look at me writing more jaskel, surprise surprise
> 
> Thank you to the cryptid-shaped gremlin in my brain for helping me workshop the title!! And ofc a thank you to jentaro for letting me scream and workshop the plot in DMs.
> 
> Written for the Bounce A Coin Bingo for the prompt "Fluff"!!

This was a horrible idea. Eskel knew that as soon as he agreed to this, and he still stood by that now, on the way to the party that Jaskier had gotten him to agree to coming along to. 

But the way Jaskier was skipping alongside him, excited as he led the way, soothed Eskel’s nerves a bit. He couldn’t really be mad at Jaskier, not for his friend just wanting him to have some fun at a party for once. 

“I’ve heard from everyone else about this party, everyone that’s there will be fine with you, I promise,” Jaskier gushed. “You’ll get along well with all of them in no time.”

“Why do you go to these parties instead of staying at home?” Eskel asked, rubbing his hands together to try to get some warmth. 

“There’s no tradition in that,” Jaskier explained, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Tradition?”

“Yeah, every year I kiss someone attractive at a New Year’s party, and I get good luck for the rest of the year. I’ve kept the tradition up for six years now, and I haven’t had a bad year since.” 

Eskel’s shoulders hunched a bit. “I’m not kissing a stranger.” 

“You don’t have to. That’s just my tradition,” Jaskier assured him. His expression softened. “How about we go, have one drink, and if it’s awful, we go on a pub crawl instead?”

“Fine,” Eskel reluctantly agreed. At least he had his headphones, the best noise canceling ones he could find. He always felt fidgety going out in public without them, and his fingers skirted over them briefly to make sure that yes, they were still there. 

The moment they walked in, he knew they weren’t going to leave after one drink. A few people looked over and raised their drinks at Jaskier with cheers, one girl came over and clapped him on the back with enough strength to send Jaskier stumbling a bit, and Jaskier had the brightest grin on his face. Eskel stuck to his side like a puppy though, trying to hunch in to avoid catching anyone’s attention or bumping into someone on accident. He was acutely aware of his size in situations like these, with crowds that gathered too close and voices all around that were jarring and stares, _surrounded by staring people glancing and wincing at his scars and physically turning away to avoid looking at him, he could see the whispers starting, he needed to run, he needed to hide from everyone’s stares, he needed—_

“Hey.” Jaskier’s voice split through the noise and the tremors starting in his hands, as if he had been underwater and just broke the surface. Jaskier gently grabbed his hand and stood in front of him, and Eskel found himself unable to look away, unable to focus on anything except for Jaskier. Jaskier, who looked at him with such gentleness, not pitying as if he was a caged animal, but _understanding._

“Are you okay?” Jaskier asked, just barely audible over the other conversations and music filling the room. Eskel swallowed and jerked his head in a quick nod. 

Jaskier didn’t buy it, and his soft and open gaze hardened into one of determination. “Eskel,” he said, in a tone that held no room to argue. 

Eskel deflated at that, and he gripped onto Jaskier’s hand tighter as he glanced around, suddenly aware of the crowd around them again. He leaned in close so he wouldn’t have to shout, so the people around them wouldn’t hear. “It’s..a lot,” he admitted. Jaskier gave another nod, and intertwined their fingers as he stood at Eskel’s side again.

“Want to leave?” he offered, and Eskel shook his head. 

“No.” He wouldn’t break Jaskier’s tradition like that. He could get over a crowd for a couple hours so that Jaskier could have his year of good luck. “I can..find somewhere to sit. That’s not as, er, crowded.”

Jaskier agreed and led them over to the drinks table, where various drinks were spread out. Eskel had half a mind to fill the entire plastic cup with vodka, but he didn’t want to leave Jaskier the task of carrying him home. Jaskier frequently spoke up at any opportunity to point out how much larger Eskel was, not just in height but also in muscle. It’s true, with his clothes on Jaskier just looked like some twink next to Eskel, when he was actually quite fit as well. 

“Here you go,” Jaskier said, shoving a drink into Eskel’s hands and snapping him out of his thoughts. Eskel looked down at the bright blue drink.

“What is it?”

“Dunno, I mixed a bunch of stuff that sounded like it’d be good together. Orange juice and pineapple juice, coconut rum, that blue stuff I can’t pronounce, vodka, and….I think I added some peach schnapps in there?” Jaskier listed off the ingredients on the fingers of his free hand. 

Eskel took a sip and quirked an eyebrow. “Takes like those tourist photos of the beach,” he mused. 

Jaskier beamed at him. “Is that good or bad?” 

“Good. It’ll get me drunk enough.” Eskel glanced around, spotting a loveseat that was open, pushed up against the wall. He got Jaskier’s attention and gestured to it. “I’ll be over there if you need me,” he said, having to lean in to speak so that Jaskier could hear him over the background noise. He sat down in it and put his headphones on, determined to not move from that spot for the rest of the night. At least Jaskier didn’t let him be a wet blanket to the night. 

Jaskier was doing what he did best, flitting around and socializing with everyone. He drifted from person to person as he sipped at his drink, chatting with them and catching up, possibly talking about resolutions for the new year. Eskel couldn’t tell what he was talking about through his headphones and the noise, but he saw Jaskier look his way and smile a few times. He ducked his head down and tried to focus on something on his phone, instead of thinking about the way that bright smile turned towards him made his chest warm. 

He finally started to get distracted by reading a book on his phone, when someone plopped down heavily on the couch next to him. He froze, knowing if he looked up and turned towards them it would show his scarred side. He lifted his head carefully and turned just barely to see who was sitting next to him as if he didn’t have headphones covering his ears and blocking out most of the noise, and he visibly relaxed when he saw it was Jaskier. The recognition must have shown on his face, because Jaskier beamed and threw an arm around his shoulders. 

Eskel slipped the left side of his headphones off of his ear, just enough so he could hear Jaskier next to him. He winced at the sudden rush of noise it brought. “How’s the party?” he asked. 

“Good, I haven’t seen a lot of these people in a few months at least,” Jaskier replied. “It’s good to get caught up.” He sipped at his drink and settled back against the cushions, his arm still slung around Eskel’s shoulders. 

Eskel nodded in agreement and sipped at his own drink. He only managed to stay silent for a moment before he had to ask. “Aren’t you going to go socialize more?”

“Are you that eager to get rid of me?” Jaskier fired back with an easy grin. When Eskel sputtered to try to defend himself, he waved him off. “I’m kidding. I’m just taking a break. Getting to spend some time with my best friend.” 

That made Eskel’s heart jump in a way it shouldn’t. He knew that they were friends, but it still threw him for a loop every time Jaskier said it. He tried to look away, to get his bearings, but he realized with how he was facing Jaskier, his scars were facing out towards the rest of the room. His gaze met with a few people who were glancing his way as they conversed, probably about him. The moment he looked over, they stopped and turned away. Eskel felt his throat tighten, and he tried to turn his own head away to hide his scars towards the wall. 

Of course Jaskier noticed this, and he got up to instead wiggle into the small space between Eskel and the arm of the loveseat, on Eskel’s other side. “Hey,” he murmured, his free hand coming to rest on Eskel’s shoulder. “Are you okay?” 

Eskel sighed and shook his head. His jaw worked to try to find the words, but nothing came out. He instead gestured weakly to the scars on his face with a brief glance out to the crowd. His face was turned back towards Jaskier by a gentle, callused hand on his unscarred cheek turning his gaze back on his friend. 

“Don’t worry about anyone or anything else here, alright?” Jaskier murmured, his hand lingering on Eskel’s cheek. “Just focus on me and the couch. Can you do that?” 

Eskel took a shuddering breath in and slowly let it out, his eyes closing as he slowly relaxed again. 

“Good,” Jaskier praised gently. “Keep breathing like that.” He let his hand slip back to the cup of Eskel’s headphones, where it was still crooked and sitting behind his ear instead of over it. “Do you want these back on?” 

Eskel shook his head again. “No. Want to talk to you.” He adjusted his headphones a bit so that his left ear was covered instead and his right ear was partially uncovered, just enough to hear Jaskier. 

“Okay.” Jaskier took a deep breath and slowly let it out, looking much more surprised by the statement than he should have been. Didn’t he know how much Eskel loved to talk to him? “Okay,” he repeated, softer. He looked back up at Eskel and smiled. “So. What do you want to talk about?”

“Snails,” Eskel blurted out. 

They both stared at each other and then burst out laughing. Eskel felt his worry at everyone staring at him quickly fade away into the back of his mind. He almost forgot that there was a crowd there at all. It was hard to think or worry about anything or anyone else when Jaskier was right beside him, tossing his head back and laughing so much at Eskel saying the first thing that came to mind. 

Jaskier’s laughter finally subsided into chuckles, and he wiped a tear away. “Sorry. I think the alcohol’s getting to me, that— that was the funniest thing I’ve heard all night,” he said, bursting into another fit of giggles. “But, that reminds me. How have the tomato plants been faring? Did anything help at all?”

Eskel took a sip of his drink and pursed his lips in thought. “You know, I actually haven’t seen any of the snails around lately. I guess something worked, no idea what,” he admitted. “Could have been the coffee grounds, could have been the bird houses and feeders, or the new herb garden. I don’t know.” He perked up. “Oh, that reminds me. I have pictures to show.”

“Pictures?” Jaskier had already looked interested in what Eskel was saying, but now his eyes lit up and he scooted closer to get a better look at Eskel’s phone. 

“Yeah, had no idea so many kinds of birds were around. Mostly sparrows, but a few others,” Eskel said as he pulled up an album that was filled with photos of various birds at the feeders. He was right, there were a lot of pictures of sparrows, but the way Eskel referred to them as “another one of those little guys”, Jaskier found himself melting against his friends side to listen to him talk about the different kinds of birds, the two new types of feeders and seed mix that he had gotten for the variety he had seen in trees— Jaskier didn’t even realize there was more than one kind of feeder— and the nicknames he gave to the ones that he saw the most often. 

Eskel swiped to the next photo, which was a deer rubbing its face against the feeder to get seed to fall out. “Oh, yeah. The deer have been realizing its free food,” Eskel said as he laughed a bit. “I have to refill that and the flat feeder almost daily now because the deer and squirrels eat a lot of it.”

“At least they’re not eating your plants,” Jaskier said from where his cheek was squished against Eskel’s shoulder. 

“True,” Eskel agreed. “Though the deer haven’t been eating my plants nearly as much since I planted those bushes. Oh I have some photos of those right when they were planted and a week after, the difference is pretty funny…”

Eskel settled into an easy rhythm of talking with Jaskier, a situation he had navigated so many times so many different ways that he knew he could act how he wanted and his friend wouldn’t judge or berate him. Except, perhaps the alcohol was getting to his head too quickly. He hadn’t realized how much he was drinking until he went to take a sip and found his cup empty. 

Jaskier paused in his own rambling about this dog he had seen the other day on his jog that was _so small_ and took Eskel’s empty cup. “Want me to get you another?” he offered, already standing. 

He barely had to think about it. It was a delicious drink, and he was feeling pleasantly buzzed already from just one. “Yes please.” 

His friend tossed him a wink and what was probably a promise to be back soon, but Eskel couldn’t hear him over the din of the crowd and his own calming music playing in his ears. He settled into the couch and pulled the other cup of the headphones over his ear to fully block out the rest of the crowd. No sense in trying to power through it when there wasn’t Jaskier’s joyous laughter to focus on instead of the rest of the noise. 

He was already feeling tired. The alcohol didn’t help with that, and he wanted to just curl up and sleep. He checked his phone for the time, surprised to find it was already only fifteen minutes before midnight. He looked around the room. People were gathered around the various TVs, watching the performance and news broadcasters talking on camera about..something. Probably the crowd.

Eskel was startled out of his thoughts by Jaskier plopping down on his right side again and pushing another obnoxiously blue drink into his hands. He took a sip as he adjusted his headphones once more to hear Jaskier. “Getting close to midnight.”

“Is it?” Jaskier checked his own phone. “Huh. So it is.” He stuck the phone back in his pocket and slumped against the back of the couch, his arm coming to rest around Eskel’s shoulders once more. “Well, there’s still time, and I’m comfy. I’ll find someone in a minute.” 

Eskel shrugged and leaned into the arm around his shoulders. He wasn’t going to protest, it meant he got more time with his best friend. 

Which they ended up spending in almost complete silence, with Jaskier scrolling through Twitter on his phone and occasionally showing Eskel a funny picture he found, while Eskel kept his eyes closed for the most part and only opened them to see the offered picture and take a sip of his drink. 

Then Jaskier started to rub his shoulder in small, slow circles. Eskel melted even more into it and downed the rest of his drink so he could fold his legs up onto the couch and fully curl up against Jaskier’s side. The calming music playing in his ears and the pleasant buzz of alcohol through him made him sleepy, and he tried to fight to stay awake. 

“Did you find someone?” he mumbled, getting a small laugh from Jaskier in response that he felt more than he heard. 

“Not yet. There’s still time,” Jaskier assured him. “You’re comfortable, can’t move you can I?”

That made Eskel’s brow furrow. “It’s your tradition.” He struggled to sit up, but Jaskier of course was always stronger than he looked and simply yanked him back down against his side. 

“It’ll be alright. I never have any troubles with finding someone in time,” Jaskier promised. “Still five minutes to go.”

“Okay,” Eskel said. He _was_ really comfortable. “Three more minutes.”

“Of course.” Jaskier started rubbing up and down over his back again, and Eskel sighed happily. Three more minutes wouldn’t hurt. Jaskier was an expert at seduction, he could easily get someone to agree to kiss him for the new year in less than a minute.

Except three minutes passed by faster than he thought they would, as well as the next minute and a half. Before he knew it, he could hear the shout of “Thirty seconds!” even with his headphones on, and he shot up and checked his phone. Shit, it really was less than a minute.

“Jaskier, you need to find—” he started, looking at his friend. Jaskier seemed worried too. It was clear everyone was already starting to pair up, and he wouldn’t be able to get to anyone in time. 

His friend took a deep breath and turned to him, a determined look on his face. “Kiss me,” he said. 

Eskel froze at the request, but people were already starting to count down. 

_Ten!_

Jaskier wound his arms around Eskel’s neck, his eyes wide and searching for permission in Eskel’s eyes. 

_Nine!_

Eskel’s mind raced. 

_Eight!_

Was he really about to kiss his best friend?

_Seven!_

Jaskier had a tradition. 

_Six!_

Wasn’t his tradition to kiss someone attractive?

_Five!_

Did he consider Eskel attractive?

_Four!_

Eskel hauled Jaskier up into his lap. 

_Three!_

Jaskier leaned in, close enough that they were sharing a breath. 

_Two!_

Eskel slipped a hand up to tangle in Jaskier’s hair. 

_One!_

Just as the crowd was cheering, the space was closed between them. The kiss tasted strongly of alcohol, but Eskel couldn’t bring himself to care right now. He hummed and tilted his head to kiss him more firmly. Jaskier’s arms around his neck tightened a bit as he returned it with just as much fervor. 

Finally they separated, and Eskel felt like he was choking on air. 

Jaskier grinned at him, though he looked similarly winded. “Well, the tradition is alive for another year.”

“Thought the tradition says it had to be someone attractive,” Eskel teased back, and Jaskier laughed. 

“It does.” Jaskier leaned in and gave him another peck. “There. Just to make sure the good luck really sets in.” 

Eskel cleared his throat to try to hide his fluster. “Does the tradition state that the more kisses you get, the better year you have?”

“It might,” Jaskier mused. He got a wicked grin on his face, and only when he pressed closer did Eskel realize Jaskier’s heart was racing just as fast as his own. “Want to try it?”

“Might have to try it for the rest of the year,” Eskel said to test the waters. At the way Jaskier’s face lit up in delight, he continued, “If you keep getting kisses throughout the year, the good luck might build up more.”

“Let’s find out,” Jaskier said, and leaned in for another kiss. 

Maybe coming to the party wasn’t such a bad idea after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment and kudos if you enjoyed it!!


End file.
